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Fondacorate (Iberian Slingers)
As shepherds, the Fondacorate are competent slingers but will not fare well in hand-to-hand combat. Description The taste of battle is sought by all Keltiberoi. The thirst which only combat can quench taunts the tongue of even those who tend to the flocks and sup on goat's milk and mutton. With a robe of coarse wool, a sling made from rawhide and a shield fashioned out of reeds from the rivers and streams of the land, these men may appear wretched compared to their noble comrades, but their art is a deadly one. A lifetime of corralling beasts and driving off predators has made these men as much a part of the land as the grasses and bushes their flocks feed on. Their aim is superb, and even the highest born warriors clad in the finest armour may meet a bloody end from one these men's slingstones, their heads dashed to pieces as a slingstone passes through their eye and out of the back of their skull. Able to unleash a deadly storm of stones and baked clay upon their foes, before withdrawing fast as rabbits to the safety of the woods or the rear of their armies, they are a unit that commands respect. Fondacorate are likewise indispensable when a Keltiberoi army sets itself to the task of besieging an enemy stronghold. Despite their aim and speed, however, their equipment is of little use in melee. Capable of killing from a distance, these men stand little chance should their foe catch them. The knives they carry may be useful for skinning rabbits, but they fair poorly against the spears and swords of trained warriors. Historically, antiquarians and early archaeologists were quick to ascribe a martial purpose to many of the items they discovered. One British antiquarian, writing in the 18th century, was so sure of the purpose of the Neolithic polished stone axe he described, that he concluded that it had been used by an ancient Briton to attack one of the Emperor Claudius' elephants (he was writing at a time when scholars had not yet realised that there was a difference between the Stone Age and Iron Age). As time progressed, archaeologists have applied new and different approaches to their analyses of the material past, including the role of weapons. Today, many weapons are viewed not solely as implements of war and battle, but also as prestige items and objects with domestic as well as martial roles. The sling is one such weapon. Previously, discoveries of slingstones were readily interpreted as stores of ammunition, placed where they were in preparation for an attack. Analysis of the ammunition of slings, and experimental archaeology using the various types of ammunition, has shown that the sling was, in fact, a versatile tool. The fact the sling was used in war is beyond doubt: historical texts mention the use of slingers in battle as far apart as Rhodes and the Inca Empire; vernacular texts such as those from Ireland mention its use as a weapon; it is depicted in Hellene and Romani sculpture and other works of art as a weapon; and even the Bible describes how David used his sling to slay Goliath. The ammunition which slingers used for battle varied. The most effective, but also the most costly, was lead shot. However, sizeable rocks could be just as deadly. Analysis of slingstones made from baked clay has also shown that this type of ammunition was likely used for battle. Apart from the above described types of ammunition, two other types of slingstone appear to have been regularly used. One comes in the form of pebbles (the exact difference between a pebble and a rock relies more on common sense than a precise, agreed upon, weight) and the others are balls of unbaked clay. It has been argued that the first of these, pebbles, were employed in driving off birds and other predators. The Eurasian golden eagle is large enough to carry off a lamb or kid with ease, whilst other raptors such as the Griffon vulture (a year-round resident of Iberia) would have been a risk in the presence of newborn calves. Ravens, too, have been recorded as feeding off the open wounds of sheep and even consuming sheep's eyeballs while they were still alive (a rare occurrence, but one of the associated problems of domesticating an animal is that it does not put up much of a fight). Pebbles would have been ideal for precision shots, intended to either harm a predatory bird or just scare it away. Pebbles would likely have been effective against other Iberian predators such as wolves and the Iberian lynx. However, only a suicidal shepherd would have launched one against a bear. Unbaked clay was likely used for corralling flocks. When baked, clay can become as hard as some rocks and just as deadly when loosed from a sling. However, if left unbaked it shatters on impact, producing no lasting damage. Shattering clay and a sore rump would have been sufficient to bring stray animals back into the herd or flock, and much more precise than using a dog to round up stragglers. Category:Units Category:Units available only in EB2 Category:Arevaci Category:Lusotannan